Report: Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant undisputed title fight eyed for September 18th

Saul Canelo Alvarez poses for picture with his champion belts during the official Weigh-in at AT&T Stadium on May 7, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. | Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images

This would be Canelo’s traditional Mexican Independence Day weekend slot.

All the belts at 168 lbs could be on the line during Mexican Independence Day weekend.

ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reported on Tuesday that unified WBA, WBO, and WBC champion Canelo Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) is lined up for an undisputed title clash with IBF champ Caleb Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) on September 18th in Las Vegas.

Unlike Canelo’s last several fights, which have been streamed live on DAZN, this would mark his return to pay-per-view. Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions is reportedly offering Canelo a one-fight deal to headline a PBC on FOX PPV in what would be the Mexican superstar’s first PPV appearance since his rematch with Gennadiy Golovkin in 2017. Alvarez is a network and promotional free agent but is keen to keep his options open and has had his previous two fights promoted by Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn.

As for the actual boxing side of this, Alvarez is coming off a TKO win over Billy Joe Saunders after he busted Saunders’ orbital bone. This would be his third fight of 2021 after just one appearance in 2020, when he handed Callum Smith his first defeat. Canelo stopped Avni Yildirim in a glorified stay-busy fight back in February and has clearly got his career in much better control after he was released from his Golden Boy Boxing and DAZN contracts.

Plant won the IBF belt with an entertaining decision win over Jose Uzcategui back in 2019. The Nashville native’s subsequent title defenses have been against underwhelming opposition in the form of Mike Lee, Vincent Feigenbutz, and Caleb Truax. The Uzcategui win solidified him as a top-level super middleweight, but Canelo is considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world so Plant will be a heavy underdog.

If this does get finalized and agreed for September 18th, it would set up a massive stretch of boxing that would include Canelo vs. Plant, Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk (Sept. 25), and Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder 3 (Oct. 9) all happening within the span of less than a month.